1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to a water heater, and more particular to a hot water supply system which includes several water heaters.
2. Description of Related Art
Hot water supply systems are installed at places with high water consumption, such as hospitals or hotels, to provide large amounts of hot water. As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional hot water supply system 100 includes a plurality of water heaters 10 and a main control device 12, wherein each water heater 10 has a conduit, which has an inlet section 102 and an outlet section 104, a gas conduit 106, and a control unit 108. The inlet section 102 of each conduit is connected with a water pipe W for water to flow into each water heater 10, the outlet section 104 of each conduit is connected with a plurality of faucets F, and the gas conduits 106 are all connected with a gas pipe G. Each control unit 108 controls each water heater 10 to heat water. The main control device 12 is electrically connected to each control unit 108 to coordinate the operation of each water heater 10, and it has a setting unit 122 for setting a demanded water temperature of water flowing to the faucets F. The hot water supply system 100 could provide hot water with the demanded temperature when any faucets F are turned on.
However, if the main control device 12 malfunctions, the hot water supply system 100 would stop providing water until the main control device 12 gets replaced, which is quite inconvenient. In addition, the main control device 12 of the hot water supply system 100 is stand-alone, and therefore occupies some additional space. With more water heaters 10 being connected, the main control device 12 gets more wiring, thus the installation becomes more complicated. In other words, if the main control device 12 can be omitted, the complexity of installation, the space occupied, and the cost of manufacturing would be reduced. Therefore, the design of the conventional hot water supply system 100 needs to be improved.